To say Dr. Emmanuel Gye’s road to Airdrie has been unconventional would only downplay a remarkable journey that has taken the Nigerian-born physician around the world and back again.

Before moving to Alberta, Gye spent four years practising medicine in Manchester, England.

He first came to Airdrie in 2009 as part of the Rural Locum Program organized by the Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan, which sets up 90-day work opportunities for visiting doctors. Gye, 42, was matched to Airdrie.

It didn’t take long, however, for the city of some 43,000 residents to grow on Gye.

“I was impressed with the small-town feel of Airdrie, where people are quite friendly and welcoming,” he says, adding he appreciated the how clean the city was, its low crime rate, and proximity to Calgary and its airport.

Gye returned to Airdrie in 2010, and hasn’t looked back since. Today, he’s a family physician at the Associate Medical Clinic and a member of the Airdrie Health Care Committee, a task force set up to improve Airdronians’ access to immediate health care.

Gye’s story is one Airdrie officials hope to hear more often. The city, like many smaller Alberta centres, is seeking more physicians as it attempts to respond to the demand for 24-hour health services. Airdrie’s health-care system currently operates from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., meaning residents have to travel to Calgary or Didsbury for after-hours emergency health care.

The Airdrie Health Care Committee, formed in 2011, is seeking to change that. A few of the initiatives the committee is exploring include enabling physicians to make after-hours house calls; better harnessing the expertise of nurses;

and supporting doctors with in-kind assistance.

For doctors new to Canada, Gye admits the idea of setting up a new practice can be daunting.

“If the physician knows there is a place they can come into and work for awhile until they are comfortable to move into their own premises, then it will be more attractive,” says Gye.

While the current doctor shortage isn’t necessarily a municipal matter, it cannot be ignored, either, says Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown.

“There’s a lot of people who say Airdrie can be the third largest city in Alberta in the next 50 years,” says Brown. “We need to attack this and we need the province to realize this is a huge need and we need their support.”